As a child, we are taught to never give up and never quit. The lesson, by all rights, is straightforward and meaningful. We are taught to push through the struggle and learn the lesson, to work through the pain and push ourselves. As a member of a team, we understand the importance of pulling our weight and sacrificing ourselves for the success of others. While many of these lessons remain relevant through life, being in a place that is unsafe, unhealthy, or is not uplifting, only feeds our downside and simply does not deserve our sacrifice.
Many of us pride ourselves on being strong, we believe we can work through anything, and often have a false sense of security in that. We stay in situations longer than we should because we wholeheartedly believe it will get better, and many times it does. However, as Zack Friedman states "the fastest way to keep losing, is to hold on to a loser."
It takes discipline and confidence to recognize when the sacrifice is no longer worth the reward and walking away is the only means of preserving your upside.
